1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to bubble generating games, amusement devices, and methods of operation thereof; and, more particularly, to an improved amusement device and method of use thereof which are usable by young and old alike, and which are suitable for generating soap bubbles which then serve as targets for projected water streams shot from, and generated by, the same toy that generated the soap bubbles in the first instance.
More specifically, the present invention relates to simple, yet highly effective methods and apparatus for generating separate, independent, pressurized air streams, one of which serves to positively raise and lower a dip ring or bubble-blowing wand from and into a reservoir containing a soapy film-forming solution, another of which serves to project an air stream axially through the bubble blowing wand when the latter is raised out of the reservoir for generating and projecting bubbles therefrom, and yet another of which serves to release excess pressure while permitting replenishment of expelled air, all using at least one bellows for generating: (i) a first positive pressure air stream to raise the bubble blowing wand out of the reservoir and to project an air stream at and through the raised wand; (ii) a second negative pressure air stream for either returning or assisting in the return of the wand to the reservoir after the soapy film formed thereon has been stripped therefrom in the bubble generating operation; (iii) a third air stream, totally separate and independent from the first and second positive and negative pressure air streams, for stripping the soapy film from the raised wand to generate and project one or more bubbles during the bellows compression stroke and for permitting replenishment of the air supply in the bellows during the expansion stroke; and (iv), a fourth air stream comprising an air regulation stream which may, if desired, be associated with a sound producing device, such as a whistle, for allowing release of excess air in the bellows during the compression stroke, which excess air might otherwise break the soap film on the wand, and for permitting replenishment of the air supply in the bellows during the expansion stroke.
The present invention further comprises a manually operated bellows arrangement for a bubble generating system wherein the actuating handles for the bellows comprise a pair of manually operable water ejection nozzles and wherein the actuating handles are physically connected intermediate their ends to opposite sides of the bellows and pivotally connected at their forward ends to opposite sides of the bubble generating housing and reservoir for the soapy film-forming solution so as to enable the user to direct either single water streams or twin water streams from one or both of the twin water ejection nozzles at bubbles generated by the user's toy or by another's toy; and, when twin water streams are ejected, such streams can be controllably directed at the target(s) along parallel, convergent and/or divergent trajectories.
In another of its principal aspects, the present invention is directed to an improved dip ring or bubble blowing wand which, because of its configuration, is able to be moved through, and out of, a body of soapy film-forming solution with only minimal displacement of the fluid body, thereby minimizing the danger of premature stripping of the soapy film from the wand.
2. Background Art
The prior art is replete with literally dozens of published and/or patented toys, games and similar amusement devices dating back over the past five (5) decades relating to the generation of bubbles. Representative patents include, merely by way of example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,301,427 Lyon, Jr. which discloses a bubble forming device having a valve responsive to the pressure of air introduced therethrough by blowing into the valve such that at relatively low pressure an air stream is blown into and through a cup containing a soapy liquid or bubble forming solution so as to form a bubble at the top of the cup, whereupon the child or other user must blow harder to shift the valve and direct a blown air stream around the cup to separate the formed bubble therefrom.
Limber U.S. Pat. No. 2,560,582 is representative of a number of available prior art patents disclosing a "bubble gun" comprising: (i) a reservoir for a soapy liquid or bubble-forming solution; (ii) a bubble blowing wand movable, generally vertically, into and out of the solution in the reservoir; (iii) a linkage for shifting the wand into and out of the reservoir upon physical movement of a trigger or the like; and (iv), a system for blowing an air stream through the wand when raised out of the reservoir so as to cause the soapy film formed thereon to form a bubble which is blown off the wand and out of the muzzle of the toy gun. Somewhat similar disclosures are found in U.S. Pat. Nos.: 2,393,039 Gilchrist, Jr.; 2,518,627 Lorenz; 2,553,388 Steiner et al.; 2,599,888 Beezley et al.; 2,700,845 Arliss; 2,802,298 Larin; 2,828,579 Schwerbel et al.; 2,942,374 Mann; 2,974,438 Hopkins; 3,389,492 Sullivan et al.; 3,398,479 Rave; and, 3,733,736 Glessner, Sr.
N.A. Greene, in U.S. Pat. No. 2,853,829 and its Canadian counterpart--viz., Canadian Pat. No. 620,504 issued May 23, 1961--describes a caricature-like toy having a vertically reciprocable head mounted in a squeeze bottle with freedom for vertical movement relative thereto as the bottle is squeezed. The vertically reciprocable head includes a bubble blowing wand or dip ring which, when the bottle is expanded and the head retracted, resides in a reservoir of soapy bubble forming liquid; but, when the bottle is squeezed to raise the head, the head serves to lift the wand out of the reservoir and into close proximity to an air ejection nozzle coupled to the interior of the squeeze bottle. Greene discloses a somewhat similar arrangement in a later issued patent--viz., U.S. Pat. No. 3,093,925. In this instance, however, Greene employs a bellows which, when compressed, serves to open the jaw of an animal's caricature head while simultaneously lifting the bubble blowing wand coupled to the upper jaw out of a reservoir in the lower jaw and placing the film covered wand adjacent a nozzle located at the juncture of the upper and lower jaws and coupled directly to the bellows so as to project an air stream through the wand and cause bubbles to be blown out of the open jaws. Somewhat similar disclosures are found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,579,898 Hein; 3,736,694 Lebensfeld; and, 3,775,898 Kalish.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,388,498, also issued to N. A. Greene, discloses a bubble making toy wherein a reservoir of soapy liquid is mounted on the upper end of a pressurized gas cannister. Movement of the reservoir downwardly by the user serves to expose a bubble-blowing wand aligned with a gas discharge nozzle and, at the same time, to actuate the pressurized gas cannister so as to project an aspirated air/gas mixture through the wand to form bubbles. When the reservoir is released and permitted to move upwardly, it moves into surrounding relation with the bubble forming wand while the discharge nozzle of the pressurized gas cannister is closed.
In 1975, U.S. Pat. No. 3,925,923 was issued to John E. LaFata, the inventor herein named, and John D. Cuccio. Such patent discloses a simulated, pump-actuated, shotgun-type toy having a torus-shaped reservoir disposed within the toy's muzzle and a bubble blowing wand mounted within the torus-shaped reservoir and coupled to an air-actuated piston for shifting the wand from the torus-shaped reservoir containing the soapy bubble forming solution to a point lying generally centrally of the torus and on the axis thereof such that an air stream passing axially outward through the toy's muzzle is directed axially through the torus and the raised wand so as to form bubbles and project them out of the toy gun's muzzle. Air to move the actuating piston coupled to the wand and to project the bubbles therefrom is generated by relative expansion and contraction of a pair of pump-actuated telescopic barrel members of the toy gun.
In general, devices such as those described above--particularly those disclosed in the aforementioned LaFata et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,925,923, the various Greene Patents, and the Lyon, Jr. Patent, all of which employ an air actuated piston and/or valve arrangement--have suffered from some continuing and rather severe problems. Not only are the actuating mechanisms complex but, additionally, the arrangements are such that when the devices are recharged with air following a bubble forming operation, there is a tendency to draw some of the unused soapy bubble solution back into the relatively movable parts, tending to gum up the devices and render them substantially inoperable, particularly by young children, until subsequently dismantled, cleaned and reassembled. Indeed, these problems were especially prevalent in the toy disclosed in the aforesaid LaFata et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,925,923 where the air conduits were below the upper level of the fluid solution, thus promoting aspiration of the soapy solution into the working parts of the toy.
Moreover, the very complexity of these devices have prevented their use for the dual purpose of: (i) generating soap bubbles which can be used as targets; and ii), acting as integral water pistols capable of shooting down the bubble targets generated either by the shooter's toy or by an opponent's toy. However, two (2) such toys are known to the present inventor and have been disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,399,485 Cashavelly et al. and 4,334,383 Melotti. Thus, Cashavelly et al. disclose a combined water gun and bubble forming toy where the toy gun's nozzle has a laterally directed aperture such that when dipped into a soapy bubble forming solution, a film is formed enabling the child to wave the gun with the air movement through the laterally directed film-covered aperture forming bubbles which can then serve as targets for the toy which serves the dual function of a conventional water pistol. Melotti discloses a somewhat similar toy pistol employing a reservoir of soapy bubble solution and a bubble wand which, when raised out of the pistol in the vicinity of what would normally be the pistol's rear sight, enables the child to blow through the wand to generate a bubble which can then be shot at by what appears to be a conventional water pistol.
Both Cashavelly et al. and Melotti, as well as many of the other aforementioned prior patents, are further somewhat disadvantageous since they have been designed to simulate relatively realistic looking conventional weapons; and, as a consequence, many parents are extremely reluctant to permit use of such toys by their children.
Other patents known to the present inventor which are believed to be of generally miscellaneous interest include Canadian Patent No. 487,366 Scott [a bubble forming device including a bubble blowing wand and a mechanical linkage for raising the wand from a reservoir into alignment with an air nozzle and subsequently lowering the wand into the reservoir] and U.S. Pat. Nos.: 2,514,009 Raspet [a bubble wand formed of twisted wire]; 2,858,639 Lawrence [a container for a soapy bubble forming solution having a vertically movable element containing multiple bubble forming apertures]; 2,987,847 Jones [an impellor driven disk with bubble-forming apertures and an orifice permitting the user to blow into the device to drive the impellor and to blow through the apertures as the disk rotates]; 2,989,818 Filger et al. [a bubble blowing toy simulating a musical instrument]; 3,060,626 Panico, Jr. [an apparatus and method for forming a bubble on a supporting pad and then blowing the bubble off of the pad]; 4,125,959 Markiw [a device having a reciprocable bubble blowing wand and a system for blowing air through the film-covered wand when raised to its upper position]; and, 4,556,392 Chang [a bubble blowing self-propelled octopus].